Railway-tie.



, A, E. HESS.

RAILWAY TIE.

I A F'PL ICATI0N FILED JAN.25. I918.

Patented Sept. 3, 1918.-

WITNESSES WWW ATTORN EY r rwumspsr: com:

55 fects of climate, moisture,= grease from the UNITED STATES. PATENTOFFICE.

ALVIN E. HESS, OF BLOOMSBURG, PENNSYLVANIA.

RAIL AY-Tin.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept. 3, 1918.

Application filed January 25, 1918. Serial No. 213,759.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, ALVIN E. Hnss, a citizen of the United States,residing at Bloomsburg, in the county of Columbia and State ofPennsylvania, have invented new and useful Improvements inRailway-Ties,- of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to railway ties, and more especially to thosewhich are composite because they are made up of a plurality ofmaterials; and the objects of the same are to produce a tie of metal andwood and each in two parts and detachably connected and adjustable to acertain extent so that the wooden parts can be removed andreplaced whenworn, to prevent movement of the tie either longitudinallyortransversely, to cause it to cling to the road bed, to permit the metalparts to be set up yet a little closer together and more tightly on thewooden parts without removing the tie from the roadbed, to produce a tieWhose parts can be easily stored or can be assembled in the store houseor on the job where the trackway is being laid, and finally to simplifythe whole and reduce its cost of expense.

These various objects are carried out by constructing the composite tiein the manner hereinafter more fully described and claimed, and as shownin the drawings wherein r v Figure 1 is a perspective view of a sectionof railway track whereof the rails are laid on ties embodying myinvention, the road bed being removed from part of one tie to show itsend from the exterior, and the roadbed and the end of the next tie beingbroken away to give a sectional View of the nearest block andthe boltthrough it.

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the parts of this tie slightly separated.

Fig. 3 is a cross section through the same parts when they areconnected.

Fig. 4 is a bottom .view of the tie showing the swinging links whichconnect its metallic parts. i

This improved tie is made up of two complementary metal .members,twowooden blocks, two bolts connecting the members with the blocks, andone or more links which latter. are preferably although not necessarilyemployed. While we prefer that the blocks shall be of wood, and woodwhich is treated so as to; prevent the deleterious efpassing trains, andthe like; I do not Wish to be limited to blocks of wood as they might beof other material. The metal members may be rolled or cast. While theyare shown assembled edge to edge, they are exact duplicates of eachother, and therefore oneset of dies would answer for rolling and onemold for casting. The proportions and details are not essential to thepresent invention.

Each metal member is substantially L- shaped in cross section, itsupright web 1 being substantially four inches high (more or less) and aslon as may be necessary and preferably beveled off at the ends as at 2,and at properly spaced points this web is provided with openings for thebolts yet to be described. The horizontal web is a narrow strip 3standing substantially at right angles to the upright web. Between thesewebs is what I call a lip which may easily at its extreme edge as shownat 5, and then it is carried directly backward and beneath the upperleaf to form the lower leaf of the lip, and merges by an obtuse angleinto the lower web 3 as shown, The extremities of the upperleaf aredownturned as at 6 and form flanges which embed the ballast B of therailway so as to prevent the tie from creeping or othermovementlongitudinally,

and the ballast overlies the lip and is caught behind its upturned outeredge'so as to prevent the tie from rising undesirably. Thus the metalmember is madeif it is rolled. If it be cast, the upright and horizontalwebs would doubtless be integral with the lip,the

latter slightly oblique to both as shown, and i its outer edge rolledupward, but it would not be in two leaves. The inclination of the lipcauses the bottom of the tie to be channeled as it wereso that it restsfirmly on theroadbed or ballast B, and the whole tie is embedded withinsaid' ballast as seen at the rear of Fig. 1. There are two of thesemetal members, with {their horizontal flanges placed edge to edge butnot quite contact.

Each wood member is a block 10, preferably rectangular and substantiallyof the relative size shown in the drawings, and as above suggest-edthese blocks should be treated to prevent them from decay. Each blocksquarely underlies one of the rails R, and its height is such that itrises above the upper edges of the upright webs for an inch or two sothat the rails never touch the metal of the tie. The blocks should be ofsufficient length to permit the spikes S to. be driven into them withoutsplitting the blocks. The latter are held between the upright webs ofthe two metal members by transverse bolts 11 passing through the holesin said webs and through appropriate holes in the blocks, and bypreference we make the holes 12 in, the upright webs rather larger thanthe shanks of the bolts vertically, and in the form of slots as seen,for a purpose which will appear. hen this tie is to be used whereswitches or cross-overs occur, the metal members will be a little longerthan normally employed and pierced with more openings than shown, andlonger blocks will be used so that the four rails may be spiked thereto,two by two, as understood. Further along a switch where the rails of thetwo tracks have diverged to a considerable extent, the metal members maybe quite long and four separate blocks employed; but. always we wouldhave the holes through the upright webs slotted vertically so that, incase the blocks become loose or worn, they may move vertically but theymay not move horizontally which would throw the track out of gage. Bythis it will be understood that in time the blocks may become compressedto a certain degree, especially if they are dried out by a long seasonof hot weather or if the traffic has been extremely heavy and the blocksare old. Their lower sides rest squarely on the horizontal webs 3, andtheir side faces are supposed to contact with the inner faces of theupright webs 1. If their upper faces descend under the shrink age of theblocks as suggested, it is desirable that the bolts shall descend withthem in the openings in the upright webs, rather than be sheared off asmight occur if the bolts fitted the openings rather closely. ()bviouslythe track-walker or other attendant will from time to time set up thenuts on, the bolts to make them tight, or at stated periods a track gangcan travel the length of the stretch of track and do all this work atonce.

The devices above described will connect the two metal members and theinterposed wooden members, but by preference we also employ links asseen in Fig. 4, each of which is constructed as follows :The link has asubstantially upright flat body 20 of a length to extend across thehorizontal webs of the two metal members between their lips, andpossibly beveled or inclined at its extremities at 21 so as to underliesaid lips partly, and at appropriate points having two tangs or pinsrise from the upper edge of this link and pass through holes in thelower web,one or both of them being upset or riveted at their upper endsas seen at 24. There may be one or more of these link connectionsbetween the metal members of each tie, but by preference I dispose eacha little obliquely when it is put in originally, and. this may bebrought about by cutting the holes in the lower web in a slightlystaggered relation with each other. The material of which the link isformed is not essential, excepting that we would prefer metal and itshould not be cast metal because that would not permit the upsetting orriveting of its tangs.

A composite or compound tie as thus constructed has many advantages.First its metal members may be easily made by rolling or casting them,and easily stored in small compass because one would nest very nicelywithin another. The bolts and the links are of course separate from themembers at this time. The wooden blocks need not be stored, nor needthey be provided until the ties are to be laid. At that time they can becut from appropriate pieces of available wood, whether treated or not,although we would prefer to have them treated with some creosote orother composition which will prolong their life and render themimpervious to moisture and other deleterious exterior influences. Infact the blocks need not fit between the members very accurately, andthis is one of the principal points of ad vantage of my t-ie. If theyare little higher or longer than shown in Fig. 1, it obviously makes nodifference. If they are a little wider, it would only cause the metalelements to stand a little farther apart, the nuts would not be run sofar onto the bolts, and the oblique link if employed would not standquite at the angle across the tie as shown in Fig. 4. In fact, it may bewell to have the blocks a little oversize rather than a littleundersize, because when they become loose as suggested above they thenmay be more readily tightened up without throwing the lower webs intocontact, edge to edge, and of course the longer and stronger the blocksthe less apt they are to be split by the spikes S and by heavy trafficand bad weather. Tn laying the tie the parts may be assembled in theshop or may be brought to the job separately and assembled as they arelaid. The oblique lips with their upturned outer edges afford excellentledges for the roadbed or ballast and prevent the rise of the tie or itscreeping longitudinally of the railway, and the flanges at theextremities of the tie prevent its movement longitudinally or across theroadbed. If

the links are employed, they are preferably put in place before themetallic parts are laid, and their tangs upset as describedthen themetal parts are placed on the road bed and the blocks inserted andbolted in position later.

Another feature of advantage of this tie is that, when any blockrequires removal or substitution, it can be accomplished withoutnecessarily taking the tie out of the ballast. Simply withdraw the nutfrom the bolt, withdraw the bolt from place, and slip the block out ofthis end of the tie either longitudinally or vertically; and thenreplace it with another by a reversal of the operation. Preferably, ofcourse, we would slip the block out longitudinally so as to withdraw itfrom beneath the rail, without necessarily even having to raise therail. Finally the ballast which has been removed at the end of the blockcan be replaced and tamped in a manner well understood.

What is claimed as new is 1. The herein described composite tie made upof two metal members, each having an upright web and a horizontal weband a lip projecting obliquely from the angle between said webs, theouter edges of said lips being upturned, blocks of other materialdisposed between said metal members, and means for holding said blocksremovably in place.

2. The herein described composite tie made up of two metal members, eachhaving an upright web and a horizontal web and a lip projectingobliquely from the angle between said webs, the outer edges of said lipsbeing upturned and both ends of the lip being downturned into flanges,other members interposed between the metal members, and means forholding all members together.-

3. In a composite railway tie, the combination with two members of sheetmetal,

each comprising an upright web beveled at its extremities and piercednear its ends with holes, a horizontal web projecting toward thecompanion member from the lower edge of the upright web, and a two-plylip standing oblique to and uniting both webs and consisting of an upperleaf projecting from the lower edge of the upright web outward anddownward, and a lower leaf continuing the outer edge of the upper leafand extending inward and upward and united with the outer edge of thehorizontal web; of blocks interposed between said upright webs, andfastening means passing through the blocks and the holes in such webs.

4. In a composite tie, the combination with two spaced L-shaped memberswhereof each has holes in its upright web and in its horizontal web,blocks interposed between said members, and fastening devices passingthrough the blocks and the holes in the upright webs; of linksconsisting of plates standing on edge beneath the horizontal webs andeach having upstanding tangs pro- 'ecting through the holes in thesewebs and eaded at their upper extremities,

5. In a composite tie, the combination with twg metal members ofL-shaped cross section whose horizontal webs stand in the same plane butare spaced at their contiguous edges and are pierced with holes out ofregistry with each other, wood rail-supporting blocks disposed betweensaid members,

and connecting devices between the blocks and upright Webs; of linksunderlying the horizontal webs and slightly oblique to a transverse linethrough the tie, each link having upturned tangs at its extremityengaging two holes in the horizontal webs, for the purpose set forth.

In testimony whereof I aifix my signature.

ALVIN E. HESS.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressingthe "Commissioner of intents, Washington, D. 0.

